The Red Sisters of Anarcrothe
The Melchahim clan, eager to preserve their skins which continued to decay due to their lord's weaker vampiric soul, experimented with various new methods and applications of alchemy. But when these experiments went wrong and poisoned an entire supply of human stock, eagerness turned to fear. Unwilling to simply await Melchiah's punishment, the guilty parties fled across the sea to the hinterlands, a path of retreat that was oft-used by humankind as well. And in need of new human test specimens, the rogue Melchahim took to kidnapping those humans who strayed from their nomadic clans. Secluded in the desolate hinterlands, they built an entire new laboratory in which to resume their experiments with alchemy, their intentions now to find some discovery valuable enough to win Melchiah's favor instead of his wrath. Ignorant of the outright civil war that had consumed Nosgoth's heartland or the human rebellion that had swelled in its wake, they were nonetheless aware of tensions between the clans over the division of territory and proper rights to Kain's abdicated throne. And so their breakthrough came in the form of a substance called naphtha. A strange liquid colored like fire, while inert, it was cool to the touch and harmless to the skin. The leading scientist of this group, Laderic, discovered a crucial attribute of naphtha: When agitated, this substance would give way to searing flames. Laderic kept this breakthrough quiet, intending to take full credit for the new weapon and place all blame for the poisoning incident on his fellow alchemists. But he would not get the opportunity. Elustra, Laderic's human captive and test specimen for over twenty years, had taken to feigning insanity. This made her seem less threatening which led to less harsh treatment and, fortunately, less precaution. Considering her too mad to even comprehend the notion of escape, Laderic made no great deal of leaving supplies within reach of her cage. One day, she got hold of the treasured naphtha and melted the bars of her cage into nothingness. She soon turned the substance on Laderic himself but, underestimating the volatile nature of this 'liquid fire', she sustained terrible burns in the process of destroying her captor. Blinded and enraged by her decades of captivity and the pain of the fire, she ran amok throughout the laboratory, casting flames upon every living creature - vampire and captive human alike. Escaping finally into the desert, she was found barely conscious by a band of nomads who had been attracted by the smoke from the burning laboratory. While Elustra could not manage a coherent explanation of the events that had occurred, they deduced that the vampires had slaughtered their captives and had been themselves roasted alive as vengeance. She never revealed the truth that she herself had killed the humans there and so, while she spent many months in recovery, a sisterhood came together in reverence to the fallen. Covering her disfigured face with a mask, she took charge of this sisterhood and dedicated their cause to the last known human to possess the lost knowledge of alchemy, the States Guardian Anarcrothe. Both as revenge against the vampires and penance for her blind destruction of human life at the laboratory, she would spend the remainder of her life fighting for her new sisters. Ransacking Laderic's lab, they stole the secrets of naphtha and supplies of its manufacture before burning the rest of the place to ashes. With these valued materials in hand, the group now known as the Red Sisters of Anarcrothe sailed northward to dock at Freeport, discovering that the recently-formed Ironguard had already taken the city. After meeting with this faction and the Watchers who revealed themselves afterward, Elustra and her people set up in the former capital of Meridian to recruit new sisters and begin mass production of naphta-based weaponry. The Red Sisters had become not only the first human alchemists in centuries but also a new force in what was officially a war for freedom. Category:The Age of Hope